Higgins settlement

Question

1. Does the government accept that Australians have a legitimate interest in knowing whether $2.4 million of public money was paid to settle claims subsequently found by a Federal Court judge to be demonstrably false? 2. Will the Government provide the deed of settlement executed on 13 December 2022 and any breakdown of the settlement across heads of claim? 3. With respect to the above questions, please confirm the Department understands it cannot claim legal professional privilege to refuse to answer questions or provide documents to a parliamentary committee. If the Department wishes to decline to provide specific details of legal advice on the basis it would prejudice the public interest, please confirm the Department understands a Minister must formally raise a public interest immunity claim and that the claim must specify the exact harm such disclosure would cause, rather than merely stating the advice is confidential.

Answer

Please see attached answer.

Documents

• Question with answer (PDF) (opens in a new tab)
• BE26-340.pdf (opens in a new tab)